Overlapping and co-occurrence pattern of Anastrepha species (Diptera, Tephritidae) in anthropic areas

• Main Authors: Tayron Sousa Amaral, Gleidyane Novais Lopes, Keiko Uramoto, Julio Marcos Melges Walder, Rodrigo de Souza Bulhões, Roberto Antonio Zucchi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2017-12-01
• Series: Biotemas
• Subjects: Ecological niches; Faunal indices; Fruit flies; Population fluctuation
• Online Access: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/biotemas/article/view/50572

This study was carried out in two anthropic areas (Fazenda Areão and Monte Olimpo) on the “Luiz de Queiroz” campus, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP. We analyzed data from 52 collections of 14 McPhail traps distributed in both areas. A total of 1,583 females belonging to 14 species were collected, including Anastrepha amita Zucchi, A. barbiellinii Lima, A. bistrigata Bezzi, A. daciformis Bezzi, A. distincta Greene, A. fraterculus (Wiedemann), A. grandis (Macquart), A. manihoti Lima, A. montei Lima, A. obliqua (Macquart), A. pickeli Lima, A. pseudoparallela (Loew), A. serpentina (Wiedemann) and A. sororcula Zucchi. A greater number of specimens (1,041) were collected at the Fazenda Areão compared to Monte Olimpo (542). The mean niche overlap was greater than expected at random for both areas; therefore, the ecological niches of the species largely overlap. The pattern of co-occurrence indicates that segregation was not random between two pairs of species: A. pseudoparallela × A. obliqua (Fazenda Areão) and A. fraterculus × A. pseudoparallela (Monte Olimpo). This segregation suggests that there may be competition for resources in each niche. The analysis also revealed three aggregated species pairs: A. bistrigata × A. montei, A. fraterculus × A. barbiellinii (Fazenda Areão), and A. fraterculus × A. bistrigata (Monte Olimpo), indicating that each pair occurs concomitantly without interfering with the permanence of the populations in these areas.